I have read the Book of Enoch (First Enoch), specifically the 1893 translation by Robert Henry Charles. It is an ancient religious text of Jewish origin which was first written in Hebrew. It was revered by Jews and early Christians but it gradually lost favor and in time was essentially forgotten. Except in Ethiopia. They adopted it as part of their canon and they preserved it in the Ge'ez language. The rest of the world rediscovered this book thanks to the Ethiopians.
It is certainly a fascinating and intriguing book. It offers a glimpse of what was believed by at least some ancient Jews and their hope for a future righteous society to be created by God.
One section of the book is devoted to detailing a calendar that differs from the current Jewish calendar.
This book contains descriptions of the movement of heavenly bodies and of the firmament, as a knowledge revealed to Enoch in his trips to Heaven guided by Uriel, and it describes a Solar calendar that was later described also in the Book of Jubilees which was used by the Dead Sea sect. The use of this calendar made it impossible to celebrate the festivals simultaneously with the Temple of Jerusalem. (Source.)
Back around early 2015 this book caused some controversy within LCG when the LCG leadership discouraged lay members from studying this ancient book even though their students had been previously instructed to study that book.
Folks with free will who claim to be seekers of truth should not be afraid of reading a book. When I was a young man in the Worldwide Church of God (I was baptized at the tender age of 17), I remember asking some questions about apocryphal books included in The Jerusalem Bible. The elder asked to borrow the book and NEVER returned it (he also didn't address my questions). Now, I realize that it is impossible to fully understand and appreciate the situation in the Holy Land at the time of Christ without having read I and II Maccabees and Josephus. But I guess that's the whole point isn't it? They don't want folks questioning their take on things, and they don't want them exposed to anything that might cause them to ask those questions! Their "truth" is such a fragile thing.
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